Tuesday, December 18, 2012

I was leafing through a wonderful travelogue of Ghost Towns in Texas and found a picture of an old college which has fallen into ruin. I always think, "If walls could talk..."

What genre does your book fall under?

Definitely romantic suspense--and perhaps historical since it's set in the 1880s.

What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Well, that's a tough one since I don't go to movies and watch the "oldies" on dvd/vcr. So, at the risk of people not knowing who I'm talking about, I think I'd choose Ann Blyth to play Ruth, the eager music student on scholarship and Pat Boone to play her love interest, Alec Marshall.

What is a one-sentence synopsis of your story?

Ruth and Alec are eager for an education at the new Belle Plain College--and also interested in getting to know each otehr better, but someone doesn't want them to be more than just classmates.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agent?

Since I'm going to try the waters of 'indie publishing' in 2013, I'll say it will be self-published.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It took two weeks to write 20,000+ of the worst drivel I've ever written! I made the decision to scrap everything--which, of course, meant not finishing NaNoWriMo--and start over when I've had time to think about my characters and develop the plot the way it should go.

What other books would you compare your story to within this genre?

That I can't answer.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I always enjoy the NaNo Challenge, and this was my 6th year. The first year I didn't finish due to the terminal illness of a dear cousin-sister. The next year I did finish--somewhere she was threatening me if I didn't! I also finished in 2009, 2010 and 2011, but this year it seemed pointless to continue--what I wrote was BAD, folks. It's redeemable, however.

But it was the photographs of those crumbling walls of Belle Plain College which really inspired me...and wondering about the stories of the young people who inhabited them during its brief life from 1881-1892. And someday, I'll go back and let them tell me about themselves...their hopes, their dreams...and yes, their secrets!

What else about this book might pique the reader's interest?

Visit my website and click on the NaNoWriMo tab to read a more complete synopsis and see the cover I designed.

Thanks, Pat, for tagging me! This was fun and inspires me to want to finish this story--someday!

TWP:Today we welcome
Tessa Steele to The Word Place. Tell us a little about yourself, Tessa.

TS:I’m a librarian
at an elementary school in Cedar Bluff, Arkansas.
It’s a town with a history.

TWP:What kind of
history?

TS:Well, it’s on the
Missouri
border, so it saw a lot of fighting during the Civil War--mostly guerilla
warfare. Afterwards it was a pretty rough place, and it had a very famous
red-light district, which is what’s getting me into trouble right now.

TWP:Wait a minute!
You’d better explain that.

TS (giggles): The only ‘house’ left is now a museum, and
during spring break before my senior year in college, some friends and I
visited it. On the wall in one room are pictures of some of the ‘ladies’ who
worked there, and I recognized one.

TWP:Should I ask?

TS:My
great-grandmother, Hallie Reynolds Steele. Nobody in the family knows anything
about here before she married my great-grandfather Merritt, who ran a newspaper.
She’s sort of a mystery, but I’m dying to know how she ended up working in one
of those places.

TWP:What are you
doing to find out?

TS:I’ve gotten into
genealogy. You know, hunting your ancestors for a family tree.

TWP:Have you found
out anything?

TS:More than someone
wants me to, I think, but I’m not giving up. That’s the other part of the
problem.

TWP:Which is?

TS: I’m dating a state police officer, Dale McCord, and he
happens to be in charge of an investigation focusing on the museum.

TWP:What’s going on?

TS:Dale won’t tell
me anything except to stay away from there. It really makes me mad. I’m a grown
woman, and he doesn’t have any right to order me around.

TWP:Maybe he’s
worried about you getting into a dangerous situation.

TS:I can’t imagine
what could be dangerous at the museum. Of course, one of the docents is a
little creepy, but…

TWP:It sounds as if
you should listen to Dale.

TS:I’m going to find
out about my great-grandmother, that’s for sure, and not even Dale McCord is
going to stop me!

TWP:Good luck
then--but be careful.

Read the first chapter of The Face on Miss Fanny’s Wall at
my website.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

DL: Yes, we're legally married. No, we don't live as husband and wife. It's impossible when I'm in Israel, and she's in New York. It's almost like we're having a long-distance affair!

TWP: How did that happen?

DL: During the war, I was in a German concentration camp. Long story, but the time I spent there gave me time to reflect on my Jewish roots which I hadn't taken too seriously before that. After the war, I searched for any remaining family members left in Europe and didn't find many. Eventually, I became interested in the quest for Israeli statehood. Annie's father was Jewish, but she didn't share my enthusiasm.

TWP: Alan Ashley was Jewish?

DL: No, her biological father, Albert Rycroft--born Rycovski to Russian immigrant parents. Annie was raised in the Episcopal Church, but I think her biggest objection to embracing her Jewish roots is her resentment toward her father. Apparently he promised to reunite with her, but he never did.

TWP: Annie suggested you knew more about that than you're willing to tell.

DL: Willing but unable.

TWP: What about this child she says you want her to raise?

DL: Chava. She's five and completely shattered by the death of her mother Rebekah. She doesn't remember her father who died fighting for Israel's survival. And, she lost the only 'grandfather' she ever knew--he made the decision to send her to Annie.

TWP: And he was...

DL: Albert Rycroft, but I can't say anymore about that.

TWP: All right. So why doesn't Annie want Chava? She says the two of you lost a child...

DL: During the war while I was overseas, Annie miscarried our son. But it all goes back to her father, and her resentment of him. She refuses to consider that he made the best decision for her when he let the Ashleys adopt her.

TWP: What will happen to Chava?

DL: I'll take her back to Israel with me. My brother Daniel and his wife Shelli will give her a home. They'll be good to her, but Annie's her blood...Rebekah was Annie's cousin. Annie needs Chava as much as Chava needs her, but what she needs even more is to find herself...to find her Papa's shining star. That's what he called her: my best little girl, my shining star.

TWP: Do you think it will happen?

DL: I don't know. I adore Annie, and we could make a good home for Chava and maybe even give her some brothers and sisters. But I can't predict what Annie will do. I never could.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

If you missed the interviews with Alan Ashley and Lenore Seldon of Where
Is Papa’s Shining Star? be sure to read
them in previous blogs to put this interview in perspective.

TWP:Welcome to The Word Place, Annie Ashley. You started
life under another name, I believe.

AA:I was born Roberta Annette Rycroft.

TWP:How did you become Annie Ashley?

AA:It’s complicated. Basically, my parents
divorced, and my mother remarried. Her husband sent me to his sister, Lenore
Seldon, when…well, when things weren’t going well. When she married Alan
Ashley, they adopted me, and I took the name Annette Lenore Ashley. Roberta was
my biological mother’s name, and I didn’t want anything to do with her.

TWP:What was life like with the Ashleys?

AA:Idyllic. I had the best of everything. We
loved each other.

TWP:You married during the war, right?

AA:It was one of those hasty wartime things.

TWP:So it didn’t work out?

AA:It did, and it didn’t.

TWP:Children?

AA:I lost a child.

TWP:I’m sorry. What do you do now?

AA:After my parents’ deaths, I became the head
of Ashley Enterprises. Now David--that’s my husband--has turned up again and
wants me to raise the five-year-old daughter of my cousin.

TWP:You don’t seem enthusiastic about that.

AA: I’m just not
sure I can do it.

TWP:You had good parental role models in the
Ashleys, didn’t you?

AA:Yes, but…Chava needs two parents, and David
and I…he has a business in Israel,
and I have responsibilities here.

TWP:What happened to your biological parents? Did
you ever see them again?

AA:Roberta Rycroft either committed suicide or
was murdered shortly after I was sent North. I don’t really care. Papa--Albert Rycroft--disappeared. He said
he’d come for me…for Bobbie, his shining star…but he never did. He never did, but he promised...

TWP:Is he still living?

AA:I’m not sure. I think so. David knows, but he
won’t tell me anything. He knew Papa--Albert Rycroft in Israel.

TWP:So what’s next for you?

AA:I have a business to run. A lot of people
depend on me for their livings. David says I need to get in touch with who I
was…find Papa’s shining star…but she doesn’t exist anymore.

TWP:You’re sure about that?

AA:I’m not sure of anything except that my
schedule says I have a business meeting in fifteen minutes, so I have to go.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Back in the summer, I left Facebook and haven't regretted it. It was a good marketing venue, but it also had some disadvantages which made me decide I could do without it. Twitter seemed a better, less time-consuming road to travel, but the problem was, I didn't really know how to use it. So I've been learning.
The result is that I unfollowed a lot of people, mainly because I don't read what they write, and they don't read what I write, so we really weren't interacting for anyone's benefit.

After some research, I discovered writers in my own genre(s) and groups/organizations which both instruct and help promote books, so I did some following there. The response has been great with a lot of those people/groups returning the follow.

It's sort of like not going into a hardware store to buy lingerie. The sales folks might really want to help you out, but what can they do? And you can't help them out by paying them for what they don't have. Maybe that's a poor analogy, but it works for me. I want to be able to learn from/buy from/support those I follow.
As social media, Twitter should be mutually beneficial for everyone.

Since deciding to concentrate on Twitter, I've noticed that the number of visits here at The Word Place have increased. I don't get many (if any!) comments, but people have been here and, hopefully, have taken away some useful information. I've also seen more visits to my website and a better 7-day traffic average than before.

My next task is to work on LinkedIn. Like other venues, I joined because it was (supposedly) a must-do, and I did it in too much of a hurry to really learn the entire scope of its inner workings. So it's back to the drawing board.

It's a crazy time of year for spring cleaning...but it's gotta be done!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

...by its cover. Not true. It's usually the cover of a book which attracts one first, then the blurb. If both are a go, we buy the book. So a book cover IS important.I've been blown away by the covers designed for my novels by several terrific graphic artists: Rae Monet (The Shiningstar Books), Tina Lynn Stout (The Showboat Affair and Dancing with Velvet), and Trisha FitzGerald (The Face on Miss Fanny's Wall). See the sidebar of the blog for a look at the covers. But these were all traditionally-contracted books.(I was unable to find websites for Tina Lynn and Trisha.)

When it comes to "indie publishing", an author has to go it alone or find an affordable graphic artist to design the cover of her dreams--never forgetting that the cover can hook a reader faster than the blurb, because it's what the reader sees first in most cases. As I dabble my toes in the waters of indie publishing (come 2013), suitable covers for The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series are high on my lists of first-things-first. I may have a good product, but no one will unwrap unattractive packaging to find it. I am, by necessity, limited by my budget. So what will I do? Go it alone, or find the tried-and-true? Here are three links I'm looking at to help make a decision.

Monday, December 10, 2012

TWP: Today we welcome Lenore Seldon, administrative
assistant to Alan Ashley who was with us a few days ago. Tell us about
yourself, Miss Seldon.

LS:There’s not much
to tell. I graduated from business school and worked ten years for retired
Judge Arthur Sutherland until his death.

TWP:Then you went to
work for Alan Ashley, right?

LS: Not right away.

TWP:Can you explain
that?

LS:I’d rather not.
Those intervening years aren’t pleasant to remember.

TWP:But now you have
a good job.

LS:Yes.

TWP:What is it like
to work for one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in America--and
one of the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors?

LS:I’m grateful for
employment. So many don’t have work. The Depression, you know.

TWP:Right, but back
to Alan Ashley…he’s quite handsome.

LS:He’s my employer.

TWP:Can’t he still
be good-looking? Have there been other men in your life?

LS:Not really. I was
engaged briefly to the boy next door, but he died in France during the war.

TWP:And Alan Ashley
lost his eyesight in the same war.

LS:Yes, but he
manages very well.

TWP:He says you’re a
great help to him.

LS:I do my best.

TWP:Since you live
in, you must spend a lot of time with him outside of the workplace.

LS:I don’t know how
it happened, but we have breakfast together and then dinner every night.
Sometimes after dinner I read aloud to him, or we listen to music. But I’m
well-chaperoned. His housekeeper Mrs. Swane lives in. And I’m going to get my
own place when I get a bit ahead.

TWP:He won’t like
that.

LS:It’s for the
best.

TWP:Is he easy to
get along with?

LS:For the most
part. He still bears some bitterness about the loss of his sight…but mostly
because it was the reason his fiancée broke their engagement.

TWP:Have you met
her?

LS:Briefly. It was
unpleasant to say the least. However, she’s very beautiful…very elegant.

TWP:Do you see your
working relationship with Alan Ashley transitioning into something more
personal?

LS:Oh, no, it can’t!
I have…responsibilities.

TWP:Can you share
what those responsibilities are?

LS:No. No, I can’t,
and if thinks this interview will get him the personal information I have a
right to withhold…

TWP:Nothing like
that, but be honest. Aren’t you the least bit interested in him, woman to man?

LS:I can’t be. You
don’t understand. He’d never understand either. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to
excuse me. I must transcribe some notes into Braille before his meeting
tomorrow morning.

TWP:All right. We
understand. Thanks for stopping by.

To learn more about Where Is Papa’s Shining Star?, visit my
website where you can see a video trailer and read the first chapter. Where Is Papa’s Shining Star? is
available in print and as an eBook from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

Friday, December 7, 2012

TWP:Thank you for making time in your schedule
for The Word Place, Mr. Ashley.

AA:What is it you’d like to talk about?

TWP:You lost your vision serving in the trenches in France during World War I. Has it been difficult, given your disability, to run a major
company like Ashley Enterprises?

AA:Yes, but then I have many good people around
me who serve as my eyes.

TWP:Your administrative assistant, Lenore Seldon,
is one of them.

AA:That’s right. She’s exceptionally intuitive.
She knows what I need before I do.

TWP:An interesting statement. Tell us something
about her, if you don’t mind.

AA:She knows her job and does it well and
faithfully. What else can I say?

TWP:What is she like outside of work?

AA:She lives in--well chaperoned by my
housekeeper, Mrs. Swane, who raised me from the time I was two. Because of
that, I’ve been able to teach her to use the Braille writer, something my former
assistant was never able to master. It’s made all the difference in my ability
to be less dependent on the eyes of others.

AA:Well, perhaps it does. To be honest,
I find myself attracted to her.

TWP:And how does she feel about you?

AA:It’s difficult to tell. She keeps her distance.
She disappears every Saturday morning and returns late on Sunday evening. She
says she has ‘responsibilities’, but she doesn’t elaborate.

TWP:Family?

AA:Perhaps.

TWP:Or, if I might be so bold, a lover?

AA: No!
Absolutely not! Her moral character can’t be questioned.

TWP:I wasn’t questioning her character, only the
mystery that surrounds her.

AA:It’s puzzling, I’ll admit. I’ve tried to draw
her out, but she keeps her own counsel.

TWP:It seems you might consider her more than
just an employee.

AA:I…I suppose I do. When I returned from the
war, my fiancée broke our engagement because I was blind. She said she couldn’t
marry ‘half a man’. Lenore…Miss Seldon…doesn’t seem to look on me that way.

TWP:Is the beautiful? Oh, I beg your pardon, I…

AA:My housekeeper says she’s quite attractive,
though when she came she was too thin…and rather shabby.

TWP:She’d come from less than optimal
circumstances.

AA:It’s happened to many during this crushing
Depression. Mrs. Swane says her appearance has improved with regular meals and
the security of employment.

TWP:Where do you see your relationship going?

AA:I didn’t say there was a relationship,
although…

TWP:Perhaps we should move on.

AA:An excellent suggestion. In fact, my
schedule, which Miss Seldon prepares daily in Braille, tells me I have another
appointment in five minutes.However, my
secretary has agreed to give you a tour of Ashley Enterprises. I
believe Miss Seldon is in accounting this morning, so you might meet her if you go there.

TWP:Thank you for your time and candor, Mr.
Ashley. I’ll make it a point to meet Lenore Seldon. A woman of mystery always
intrigues a writer.

To learn more about Where Is Papa’s Shining Star?, visit my
website where you can see a video trailer and read the first chapter. Where Is Papa’s Shining Star? is
available in print and as an eBook from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

MONDAY: Lenore Seldon speaks with us--reluctantly.

Leave a comment today and Monday and be entered in a drawing for a free PDF copy of the book!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

In the November-December issue of The Writer, Valerie O. Patterson has enumerated "10 Myths About the Writing Life". I want to focus on #8: It's a competition. NOT.

Sometime in the late summer-early fall, I backed off promoting my books. First of all, I wasn't sure the return on the time and effort spent at the computer was really worthwhile. Second, I realized that I simply wasn't part of the "in crowd"--that is, my books are cool to lukewarm and certainly not hot! My audience is smaller and more difficult to find, BUT it is no less important.

I'm venturing back into the world of promotion, this time slowly and selectively. Yesterday there were 56 views here at The Word Place--and 2 "hits" at my website. Lots of lookers, two takers. That's okay. When I track the number of blog views and the corresponding visits to my website, I know I'm doing something right. Not big, mind you, but right.

Bottom line: I have something to say, and there are people who want to hear it, and I will find them. It's not a competition to be the most visible and/or sell the most books. It's about writing, because that's what I want to do.

(I'm still looking for 100 followers here at The Word Place--44 to go!)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

TWP:Yesterday we
spoke with Jean Kingston. Now her new love interest Nick Cameron has agreed to
weigh in.

NC:Love interest? I
know I’m older, but somehow that seems flippant to me. I love Jean. I’m in love
with her.

TWP:It’s apparent
she feels the same toward you. Tell us about yourself, Mr. Cameron.

NC:I’m an attorney.
My son Charlie is my partner. He’s married to Dixie,
the third member of the firm.

TWP:A family affair.

NC:You could say
that, although Charlie…well, Charlie is opposed to my relationship with Jean,
and I’m not sure why.

TWP:You lost your
first wife, I believe.

NC:Twenty years ago.
Charlie was eight. Sarah had seen me through law school, and we were finally
able to buy a house and start a family. Two years later, she was diagnosed with
an aggressive form of breast cancer.

TWP:A terrible
thing.

NC:She fought for
six years. I borrowed money to pay for the best treatment available until the
oncologist said it was no use. She died a few weeks later.

TWP:And you’ve been
alone since then?

NC:I was never
interested in another woman until I met Jean. She’s changed my life.

TWP:I understand her
daughter is opposed to the relationship also.

NC:I think Juliana
would be opposed to anything her mother did.

TWP:Do you know
Jean’s soon-to-be ex-husband?

NC:I’m acquainted
with him. He has a well-known investment firm in Houston. He’s…well, he doesn’t know what he’s
lost, but as far as I’m concerned, Jean is well out of that marriage. She put
up with his philandering for over thirty years.

TWP:So do the two of
you have plans to marry anytime soon?

NC:Her divorce won’t
be final for several months. And besides that, she’s finding herself for the
first time--at least, professionally. I want her to have every chance to make a
go of her business.

TWP:But you really
don’t want to wait on that.

NC:From a selfish
standpoint, no, I don’t, but she has the right to her independence. She’s
earned it.

TWP:She said the two
of you are getting away…taking a trip to Branson,
Missouri. I suggested the
showboat dinner cruise.

TWP:We wish you both
the best. Enjoy the trip, and be careful. She said you’d each had an incident
of physical danger recently.

NC:The police think
they’re related, but I’m not sure. But I am
sure we’ll be very careful. I don’t want to lose Jean…lose this chance at a new
life.

TWP:I’ll raise a
glass to a new, happy life for both of you!

To learn more about The Showboat Affair, visit my website
where you can view a video trailer and read the first chapter. The Showboat Affair is available in
print and as an eBook at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

Friday, November 30, 2012

TWP:Welcome to The Word Place, Jean Kingston! Tell me a
little about yourself--before all this happened.

JK: There’s not
much to tell. My mother died when I was three, and my father remarried ten years
later. Nona was a lovely person and just what I needed in my life at the time.
I went to Stephens College in Missouri
on a scholarship and studied both fashion and interior design. I was doing an
internship when I met Rand Kingston. It’s a cliché to say he swept me off my
feet, but that’s what he did. Good looks, money, prominent family…it was all
too much to resist. The old saying, “Marry in haste, repent at leisure,” is apt
here.

TWP: It wasn’t a
good marriage then.

JK: Rand always had
a wandering eye. I knew almost from the beginning he was unfaithful to me, but
I stuck it out because I didn’t know how I’d make it on my own with our
daughter.

TWP: Are the two
of you close?

JK:No, Juliana was always her father’s daughter.
She still is, even married with a child of her own. She knew before I did that
he planned to ask for a divorce.

TWP:That must’ve been a shock.

JK:Not really, but it did make me angry.

TWP:How long were you married?

JK:Thirty-three years.

TWP:That’s a long time. It appears you’ve moved
on with your life though.

JK:Thanks to my former housekeeper Selina. She
wouldn’t let me sit around and feel sorry for myself. Then when she started her
own catering business and a brunch bistro, she gave me a chance to use my
design skills. It was a risk for her, but because of her faith in me, I’m
starting my own interior design business.

TWP:What about the new man in your life?

JK:Nick. Nick Cameron. What can I say? He’s
wonderful.

TWP:Everything that Rand Kingston isn’t?

JK:Like night and day. Of course, we’ve got
opposition:my daughter, his son. It’s
caused some problems between the two of us, but we’re trying to work them out.
And in a way, I’m part of the problem, too. For the first time in thirty years,
I’m on my own, and I like it. Besides, my divorce isn’t final yet, so we’ve got
some time.

TWP:There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your
independence.

JK:Nick’s been very understanding. His wife died
twenty years ago, so he’s had his fill of being on his own, but he’s willing to
wait on me.

TWP:Was his first marriage a good one?

JK:He and Sarah were devoted to each other. She
died too young--cancer. He understands what loving and being in love is all
about--and I’m learning.

TWP:I understand you’ve had a problem or two
unrelated to your grown children…

JK:Nick got mugged, and then someone broke into
my apartment and tried to assault me. The police think the two incidents are
related, but I’m not sure.

TWP:So what’s next for you and Nick?

JK:He thinks we need to get away from Houston for a while, so we’re going to Branson, Missouri.

TWP:I’ve been there. You’ll love it, especially
the dinner cruise on the showboat, the Branson
Belle.

JK:What a coincidence. Showboat is the first movie we watched together. I’ll mention it to
Nick.

TWP:Do that, and have a wonderful time, Jean.
Good luck--and thanks for dropping by The
Word Place.

To learn more about The Showboat Affair, visit my website
where you can view a video trailer and read the first chapter. The Showboat Affair is available in
print and as an eBook at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

From the November-December issue of The Writer, a great article on "Five Critical Traits for Flash Fiction". I'll admit I haven't written much in the short-short line. Frankly, I've felt overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to limit my innate wordiness and still tell a story. But Faith M. Boughan, a freelance writer, blogger, and assistant flash editor for Abyss & Apex Magazine cleared a few things up for me--and hopefully, for anyone else out there who doesn't venture into this area of writing.

She suggests five things to do--which should be obvious, but they weren't to me until she set them down. First of all, knowing one's audience is important. Many flash-fiction readers don't have time to read anything else and appreciate something they can enjoy quickly.

It follows that the plot must be smaller even than a short story, that the character list should be sparse, and that the focus should be on one happening. She also suggests paring down descriptions and letting the reader use his own imagination. Finally, she advises writers of flash fiction to make the setting less expansive: exciting things can happen in limited space.

She also lists, in a sidebar, a number of resources for writers thinking about trying flash-fiction. You'll find that and much more in the article on page 11 in the regular Writing Essentials feature.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The copies I ordered of A Very Kate Christmas arrived today. It's a neat, compact little volume (5 stories) with a few minor technical glitches which I can fix with the next printing and which do not detract from the stories themselves. I plan to use the copies I ordered as Christmas "cards" for a few folks who I know will enjoy the book.

There is much to learn about indie publishing. I just finished reading (on Kindle)The Indie Author's Guide to the Universeby Jeff Bennington. When I spotted it, it was free but has now reverted to 99 cents. Take my word for it--if you're looking at indie publishing, it's a must-read. One of the tips hegives is to have a few print copies available, so that's what I was trying out with A Very Kate Christmas. It's a learning process.

Bennington's book is divided into four parts:

WHY INDIE?

TECHNICALITIES AND CRAFT

INDIE PUBLISHING

MAKING IT HAPPEN

He made me realize I am either going into business or just playing around at a hobby. It's my choice. So the first few months of 2013 will be focused on the former--and there's lots involved. I'll be blogging about each faltering step as I take it.

His book on indie publishing isn't the first I've read, but it probably should have been. The old saying about not putting the cart before the horse is apt. However, the following is a list of other books (all available on Kindle, some free, all reasonably priced) I've plowed through in the past six months or have downloaded but haven't yet read:

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Ghost #1 - The Girl in the Mist: In the 1920s, when the Crescent Hotel was a girls' school, one of the students fell/jumped/was pushed from the fourth floor balcony. A postmortem revealed she was pregnant, a scandal for an unmarried young lady in those days. She's been "seen" at various times, the most recent being in a photograph of someone eating in Dr. Baker's Bistro. She appears in the window behind him and appears to be cradling the head of a baby. (I saw the photo.)

Ghost #2 - The Lady in White: Someone staying in a suite in the remodeled area once known as "The Pain Asylum" (see previous post) saw an upside-down figure reflected in the television screen (turned off) wearing a 1930s era slip or nightgown. Other guests have reported hearing the wheels of a gurney coming down the hall from that direction. (I saw this photo, too.)

Ghost #3 - Child: One of the nurses apparently brought her little girl, a child about 2, with her to work one day. The toddler fell over the railing into the stairwell and all the way to the first floor. Much 'activity' in this area has been reported. (I didn't see/hear any.)

Ghost #4 - Breckie: Breckie was the child of a professor at the girls' college. The family 'lived in', but Breckie, a delicate child because of a congenital intestinal malformation, wasn't allowed to go outside or play with other children. He has been 'heard' bouncing a ball on the third floor and saying, 'It's not fair!' A participant in a previous ghost tour, a teacher from Iowa, reported seeing a group of children running past her up the stairs and was asked by another child, "Which way did they go?" She said he ran up three or four steps and faded from view.

Ghost #5 - Dr. C. F. Ellis: The first physician employed by the girls' college has been seen in the elevator area across from his office.

Ghost #6 - Theodora: The petite office manager/administrator of the Cancer Curable Baker Hospital, has been seen by housekeeping staff outside the now closed-up door of the room where she lived. Room #428 is one of the three most haunted/most requested rooms in the hotel today. Theodora was a 'neatnik' and has been known to pick up towels dropped on the bathroom floor or even pack a guest's suitcase and set it in the corridor outside the door! When paranormal investigators (invited in by management) took a dinner break, they came back and found the door blocked by equipment they'd left behind.

Ghost #8 - Irish workman: Trying to attract the attention of a pretty girl below, this young man fell to his death during the construction of the hotel. Now guests in Room #218 report strange happenings in this area where he died.

The last stop on the Ghost Tour is the morgue where autopsies were performed on those unfortunates killed by the man in whom they'd placed their last hope. It's now a storeroom/workroom, but the accoutrements of its grisly history remain, including the 'cold storage' area for bodies. I won't relate what happened the night I took the tour, but you may well ask, did it make a believer out of me? Nope. But don't let that stop you from taking the tour--you'll enjoy every minute of it. I did.

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According to my stats, my blog received around 130 views yesterday and today--but no comments! The contest is still 'on' until this time tomorrow, so leave a quick comment at both posts to be entered in the drawing for a copy of A Very Kate Christmas.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Just returned from my annual fall get-away, roughly defined as "me-time" when I can do what I like when I like without constraints of large beasts and small persons, (not that I don't care about both!), meetings, appointments, and other necessary (often enjoyable) events that seem to crowd the calendar more and more.

This year I went to Eureka Springs AR. Click the link for information about this fascinating place, because this blog post is not a travelogue. Rather, I want to tell you about the 'haunted' Crescent Hotel and throw out some early Christmas candy in the form of story ideas. Please feel free to help yourself!

On Tuesday I hung out on the back porch, ensconced in a larger rocker, Kindle in hand, until it grew chilly. Then I walked up to the fourth floor (elevator down for repairs/replacement) and hung out at Dr. Baker's Bistro until time for the 8 o'clock Ghost Tour, where one may meet guests who checked in but never checked out!

The hotel gets its name from its location on a crescent-shaped ridge overlooking the town. The Cherokee culture includes the premise that flowing water is conducive to spirituality, and there are 68 named springs in Eureka Springs, plus Blue Spring 10 miles away.

The hotel was a grand place when it opened in 1886 and through the 'gay nineties', with stables for 100 horses, a pool, tennis courts, bowling alley, and an orchestra. The rich and famous stayed here to 'take the waters' until the development of of modern medical science pooh-poohed the belief in the healing waters of the springs.

Fr.om 1908 until the Depression era, it was a girls' college which doubled as a hotel during the summers. Then in 1937 came "Dr." Norman Baker, who bought the building and established the Cancer Curable Baker Hospital. His 'miracle treatment' consisted of injections of herbs and carbolic acid! Not a popular figure with those who recognized him for the charlatan he was, he had a well-protected office (bullet-proof glass) and kept weapons handy.

He had the doors of the patients' rooms removed so the staff could check on them during the night without disturbing them. Also to further minimize 'disturbance', he sealed off the wing of the building once used as accommodations for wealthy guests' servants and placed the terminal patients there. The steel doors masked the sounds of their suffering in the area which became known as "The Pain Asylum".

Well, fortunately, Baker was arrested in 1940, though he served a relatively short term in prison. But--immediately the records disappeared, so no one has any idea how many patients passed through the doors (and out again, often feet first) in four years.

I hope you'll follow the links to get some background on the history of this fascinating, still imposing old structure (again a hotel) and will come back again tomorrow when I spin you the tales of not one but 5 'residents' who never left--and also tell you about the three most 'haunted'--and most requested rooms in the hotel.

Disclaimer: I am not into 'the paranormal', but I love a good 'ghost story'.

CONTEST OPPORTUNITY:
Leave a comment on this blog and the one tomorrow--specifically about a story idea that has 'rattled your cage'--and be entered in a drawing for a copy of A Very Kate Christmas.